Things I Really Drink: Glengoyne 12 year old

Unlike most of Glengoyne's standard releases, which tend to feature first fill European oak sherry casks, the 12 year old provides drinkers with a glimpse of the distillery's spirit. This makes the 12yo, with its 60% refill / 20% first fill bourbon cask / 20% first fill sherry cask mix, a perky sparring partner with Monday's and Wednesday's Glengoynes.

Upon Dr. Springbank's return from a Binny's trip in Chicago, he and I split the contents of 750mL bottles of both Glengoyne 12 and Compass Box Orchard House. We'd thought they'd be of similar quality, but they really weren't. The Orchard House was the most disappointing Compass Box expression I have tried so far. Meanwhile Glengoyne 12 year old...

Pic pilfered from Binny's

Distillery: Glengoyne
Owner: Ian MacLeod Distillers
Region: Highlands, but right on the border
Age: at least 12 years old
Maturation: 60% refill casks + 20% first fill bourbon casks + 20% first fill sherry casks
Alcohol by Volume: 43%
Chillfiltered? Probably
e150a? Possibly not
(from a 50/50 bottle split)

NOTES

It's a little fruit basket. Pears, apples, pineapples, citrons and a hint of floral yeast appear in the nose first. Smaller notes of pine, brine, bubblegum and toasted oak float around the edges. Toasted barley, tart kiwis, tart cherries and jalapeños lead the palate. Raw walnuts, cloves, toasted shredded coconut and a good bitterness ease in later. It finishes with tart cherries, mint leaves, salted toasted mixed nuts and flash of lemony eau de vie.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

With Glenlivet 12 going for $40, Glenfiddich 12 for $43, and Glengoyne 12 at $45 at the Illinois retailer, there's really no competition. Friendly but full of character, Glengoyne outclasses them from first sniff to last sip. It reads neither mass produced nor neutered, and its fruity youth works in its favor. Whether in a Glencairn or a tumbler, neat or on ice, it's a bright spring/summer daily drinker. I look forward to getting a whole bottle of my own, though not in my home state where the price is pushing $60.

Availability - many whisky retailers worldwide
Pricing - $45-$70 in the US, $40-$65 (w/VAT) in Europe
Rating - 84

Glengoyne Teapot Dram, Batch 007

Glengoyne, gettin' employees shitty since 1833.

Sold exclusively through the distillery itself, the Teapot Dram series celebrates the distillery's practice of doling out three rounds of cask strength sherry cask whisky to each employee on a daily basis until (allegedly) "the 1970s". My liver just vurped in my mouth a little bit.

These Drams are made up of nothing but first fill European oak oloroso cask fluids, unlike the official standard Cask Strength batches which are fashioned from a mix of casks. Somehow I've made it this far into my life without having a tot from this teapot, and now I'm going try the heaviest (59.9%abv) of eight batches so far. I've elected not to sip it from a teacup, sorry.

Distillery: Glengoyne
Owner: Ian MacLeod Distillers
Region: Highlands, but right on the border
Range: Teapot Dram
Batch: 007
Age: ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Maturation: first fill European oak sherry cask
Outturn: 3993 bottles
Release year: 2019

Alcohol by Volume: 59.9%
Chillfiltered? No
e150a? No
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Shoe polish, dried cherries and chile vapors start the nose off, followed by hot fudge, dried currants, vanilla bean and a hint of meatiness. The thick aggro palate goes heavy on the nuts and heat. It's slightly bitter with tart cranberries, and more figs than prunes. It finishes with mothballs, eucalyptus and Luxardo syrup, with a little bit of bitterness in the back.

DILUTED to ~43%abv, or >3/4 tbsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose gets closer to actual Oloroso here. No vanilla, less fruit, more nuts. Okay maybe some orange-coated dried cranberries. And cantaloupe. Oh but I think I killed the palate. It's vague, sweet, gingery and floral. Some of those orange-flavored dried cranberries show up too. It finishes peppery, tannic and sticky sweet.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I can't imagine working the kilns or operating direct-fired runs after three sloshes of this stuff without accidentally distilling myself. The whisky is a (lowercase) fireball when neat, then swims like a cinder block. (Perhaps it would have worked better at 48% or 50%abv, but I dropped it to 43 to match it with Friday's whisky.) Other than the fig note, the palate doesn't really do much that other A'bunadh-style NASers don't also do regularly and (to me) unspectacularly. The burly nose provides the most entertainment, so this Dram probably works best as a sniffer in a snifter.

Availability - via the distillery, but they're now on batch 8
Pricing - ???
Rating - 83 (neat only)

Glengoyne 25 year old versus Glengoyne 25 year old The First Fill

Introduced in 2014, Glengoyne 25 year old has since found plenty of fans (including most well-known reviewers) among the sherry-cask-craving crowd. The enthusiasm (and its 48%abv) almost led me to buy a bottle blindly, five years ago, when the price tag was less than half of what it is now. Though I enjoyed Glengoyne's 21 year old (43%abv), I didn't love the 21 year old, so I passed up on the opportunity to buy the 25.

Also in 2014, Glengoyne dropped a 25 year old all-first-fill Spanish oak sherry cask release into Travel Retail stores. How the heck did they do that? They're not allowed to sling delicious-sounding age-stated whisky via Travel Retail. That was practice was banned by SWA Deep State agents more than a decade ago. Yet somehow Glengoyne, those crafty almost-Lowland Highlanders, got away with it. To note, that 25yo had a slightly lower, but still very nice, ABV of 46%.

Recently, I took part in a bottle split of both 25 year olds. It's time to taste them both.

Glengoyne 25 year old, all "hand-selected sherry casks", 48%abv

The nose develops steadily over an hour, adding new scents as it goes . First, it offers rope, dunnage, nocino and dried thyme. Then dark chocolate and old newspapers. Then walnut oil and iron. Finally, blueberry pie filling.

The palate elicits a "WOW" from the sort of drinker who has been reviewing five year old whiskies way too much recently. Raw walnuts and bitter chocolate up top; figs, kiwis, lemon and candied ginger underneath. A gorgeous tartness rises up, along with more walnuts, as time passes.

It finishes with raw walnuts, raw pecans, menthol and tar. Later sips include lemon candy and salted ume.

Then...

Glengoyne 25 year old The First Fill, "100% first fill sherry casks", 46%abv

Oh the nose. Old newspapers, fig jam, engine grease, dried oregano, almond cookies and cara cara orange peels. There's probably more, but I've been consumed.

This palate's chocolate tilts more towards the semi-sweet than the bitter stuff. There's more of a bite to this one, and more salt. Thai chiles in the background, gingery fizziness in the middle, date paste in the fore. Bits of raspberry jam and tangy limes around the edges.

It finishes gently bitter and tangy, slowly sweetening with time. Semi-sweet chocolate, mixed berries and mild unlit cigars linger longest.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

I loved them both, and am awkwardly kicking myself in the ass for passing up the standard 25. The First Fill (TFF) may have the better nose, but both were very very very great. On the palates, TFF felt a little zippier, younger, with more wallop and slightly less grace, but I'm picking nits here. The standard 25 had a substantial finish, with the tar + menthol + salted ume combo greatly pleasing my senses.

I'm sorry if my writing is getting silly here. But it has been so long since I've had two classy, well-aged, old school-style, sherry cask whiskies like these in one sitting. I'm looking forward to many more weeks (or months) of fully aged single malts.

RATINGS

Glengoyne 25 year old, 48%abv — 91

Glengoyne 25 year old The First Fill, 46%abv — 90

Mathilda and Papa Eat Kit Kats, Episode IX

The ninth in a series of relevant tasting notes!

Amrut 6 year old 2014, cask 3819 for Norfolk Wines

This is the sibling to Monday's peated single bourbon cask (#2126) for Norfolk Wine & Spirits. The spirit, from unpeated malted Indian barley this time, spent its life in an Oloroso sherry butt. It may also have been the next door neighbor of Whisky Neat's exclusive cask (#3820). I hope its quality tilts more towards 2126.

Distillery: Amrut
Region: Bangalore, India
Age: 6 years (November 2014 - August 2021)
Maturation: Oloroso butt
Cask #: 3819
Outturn: 396 bottles
Exclusive to: Norfolk Wine & Spirits
Alcohol by Volume: 60%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

The nose starts off briny and nutty, with hints of tar and leather. The only sugary thing on the horizon is the mild cherry lolly note it develops after 20 minutes. Curiously, it also has the same rye bread note as #2126. The palate impressively avoids sweetness, focusing on roasted almonds and walnuts, rye bread, mint leaf and salt. After nearly 30 minutes it does pick up a hint of the nose's cherry candy, as well as a touch of bitterness. Though this is unpeated whisky, I do find a gentle smoke note in the finish, alongside pecans, figs, ginger and mint.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or nearly 2 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Farminess and a hint of seaweed joins dried cherries and toasted almonds in the nose. The palate shows dried cherries, dates, walnuts, earth and bitter coffee. The finish matches the palate, but with a whiff of mint leaf in the background.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

With some curious phenolic notes, and without #3820's punishing heat, cask 3819 succeeds more than I expected it to. The oak doesn't overwhelm until dilution, so six years was probably the cask's max. This compressed aging time hinders further development of what could have been a fabulous cask, had it matured in a calmer environment for over a decade. Still, this is a very solid pour when neat, and may appeal to drinkers who prefer drier sherried whiskies.

Availability - Possibly still available at the retailer
Pricing - $123.99
Rating - 85 (neat only)

Amrut 6 year old 2015, cask 2126 for Norfolk Wines

This Amrut run concludes with a pair of single casks selected for Norfolk Wine & Spirits in Massachusetts. While the entire state of Ohio will likely never see an Amrut single cask, at least a couple of individual retailers in The Baked Bean State were awarded a few. All of these casks appear to have been reduced to 60%abv, as if they were Knob Creek bourbons. What interests me about this particular cask is that its spirit was distilled from, per the retailer's website, "malted Indian Peated Barley". So Amrut did not use imported peated barley from Scotland during this spirit run. I'm intrigued...

Distillery: Amrut
Region: Bangalore, India
Age: 6 years (June 2015 - August 2021)
Maturation: bourbon cask

Cask #: 2126
Outturn: 120 bottles

Exclusive to: Norfolk Wine & Spirits
Alcohol by Volume: 60%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
(from a bottle split)

NEAT

Woody smoke mixes with an industrial greasiness in the nose, then shifts into a hay bale fire after 20+ minutes. Honey, nectarines and ginger fill the middle, with rye bread in the background. Just the right amount of sweetness in the palate arrives in the form of clementines and black licorice. A mix of ocean-y peat, sea salt and cinnamon frame the sweetness rather than overwhelm it. Cayenne pepper colors the background. It finishes with salt, sweet, smoke and a squeeze of lemon.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or nearly 2 tsp of water per 30mL whisky

The nose becomes simpler: smoky and briny, with a curious polyester note in the midground. The palate also narrows, featuring wood smoke, salt, cayenne and lime. It finishes with soot, lime and cayenne.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Unlike the 6 year old cask for Whisky Neat, this 6yo for Norfolk Wines actually performs best when neat. It dazzles with neither complexity nor fireworks, rather it hits each note well, feeling balanced and polished to the point that it is (SPOILER ALERT) my favorite of the single casks from this month's series, and it'll finish second among these ten Amruts. In fact it could compete well with most of Scotland's peaters. While its $200 price tag is a dealbreaker for me, I'd be willing to pony up $100-$125 for this 6 year old whisky. Yes, I just typed that.

Availability - Possibly still available at the retailer
Pricing - $199.99
Rating - 87

Amrut Aatma 7 year old 2013, cask 4670

Aatma can refer to "soul" or "spirit" (in Hindi), or it can be one of two Indian horror movies, or it'll be printed in white letters on a very red label on the front of an Amrut whisky bottle. I haven't seen either of those films, and this is the wrong Michael Kravitz Era for discussions about the soul. Instead, I regret to inform you that this is a whisky post.

It's great to see US-exclusive single casks from Amrut, especially when they're in the 5-8 year range, especially especially when they cost a fraction of the Greedy Angels series. There appear to be six of such Amrut Aatmas thus far. Today's very dark whisky came from a port pipe filled with unpeated Indian malt spirit.

Distillery: Amrut
Region: Bangalore, India
Range: Aatma
Age: 7 years (April 2013 - December 2020)
Maturation: Port pipe
Cask #: 4670
Outturn: 360 bottles
Exclusive to: USA
Alcohol by Volume: 56.5%
Chillfiltered? No
Color added? No
(sample pilfered from a recent whisky event)

NEAT

Lots of hot fudge, golden raisins and prune juice in the nose, followed by lime candy, saline, cloves and tawny port. The palate shows tart cherries, sweeter dried cherries and dried currants first. Notes of root beer and cassia bark appear later on. It finishes with dried cranberries, cassis and cassia.

DILUTED to ~46%abv, or 1⅓ tsp of water per 30mL whisky

Now I'm finding stewed and mulled fruit (with spices included) in the nose. The golden raisins return but with semi-sweet chocolate this time. The palate barely changes, perhaps gaining cloves and losing cassia. It finishes with dried cherries, dried cranberries and bitter cocoa.

WORDS WORDS WORDS

Unlike Wednesday's 6 year old single cask, this 7yo works well both neat and diluted. The Aatma also, thankfully, lacks the 6yo's punishing heat. It's a very comfortable dessert pour that never gets too sweet, but it's all cask. This style negates the necessity of putting a distillery's name on the bottle, yet it is more impressive than most 7 year old Scottish single casks I've had. I would have enjoyed better balance between the vessel and the spirit (the Aatma, perhaps?), but those of you who like cask juice may adore this thing.

Availability - Possibly sold out
Pricing - $200 and up?
Rating - 85